Robert Aitken was the teacher of John Tarrant, teacher of
PZI (Pacific Zen Inst),
and a cuke.com major benefactor.

Robert Aitken remained
a close friend of the San Francisco Zen Center, especially Michael Wenger,
until his death. I remember a meeting we had with him during the difficult
abbot transitional period following Richard Baker's resignation in 1983.
There were a bunch of ZC priests with Aitken in the Hodge House, the guest
facility that's now the Zen Hospice near the City Center. Aitken said that
the SFZC was short on enlightenment and he could send one of his teachers,
Nelson Foster I believe was one he suggested, to help out. Everyone
politely listened except for Ananda Claude Dalenberg. Maybe someone else
could remember what Ananda said but all I can remember is a general
rejection of Aitken's assumptions strongly presented. And Ananda was never
easy on the SFZC either.

I remember a talk
Aitken gave at the SFZC where he told about being interred by the Japanese
for the entirety of WWII. Since he was a civilian POW though, he was just
kept in a home in Kobe with a large library. Also there was the great
translator of haiku R.H. Blythe. I asked him if he was aware of the
Japanese Army plan to execute all prisoners of war toward the end and he
looked at me like, how could you say such a terrible thing about my hosts?
- dc

I met Suzuki Roshi at the days when he was at Bush Street
and attended a couple of those zazen meetings. It was I think in ‘64 or
‘65. We had a personal chat and Okusan brought us melted ice cream which
led to general hilarity. I don’t remember what we talked about but it was
just pleasantries. Ann and I always tried to drop by when we were in San
Francisco which we often were when her parents were still alive. I was
very fond of Suzuki Roshi and it meant a lot to me to have that
connection.

The last time we met was in the late summer of 1971. The
Diamond Sangha had held a sesshin at San Juan Bautista. Suzuki Roshi and
Reb and Dan stopped by at the very end of our sesshin and we had a little
reunion there and he said a few words. So-on Roshi was there. Suzuki Roshi
had deep fits of coughing at that time and was obviously very ill. I think
it was then, I’m not sure, that he presented me with Zen Mind,
Beginner's Mind. He was there for an hour or so. I think he stayed for
the luncheon at the end of sesshin.

I was at Tassajara when Yasutani and Soon went. It was a
very convivial occasion. Yasutani Roshi took everybody to task about koan
study. He did quite a little talk about how Soto Zen had abandoned its
koan practice. I thought that was pretty gutsy, naughty of Yasutani Roshi.
I remember all of us, the teachers, taking a hot bath together in the
stream. It was rather warm then. That was the first time I met Yvonne. It
was quite an occasion. Eido was there and Maezumi. And Flora Cortua - the
author of "An Experience of Enlightenment," put out originally by the LAZC
- Yasutani had asked her to write about it - she didn’t realize it was
going to be published. IN 1986 the Theosophical Publishing House reprinted
it and now it’s out of print again I think. We’d driven up from Los
Angelous.

DC: What do you think of the legacy that Suzuki Roshi left
behind?

I think that it’s the personality of the teacher that’s
venerated in the San Francisco Zen Center line. In the Harada-Yasutani
line, we remember those teachers but we don’t place them as centrally as
Zen Center does with the statue there in the kaisando and so on. We don’t
have a kaisando. The presence of Suzuki Roshi is very much in evidence
still at the SFZC. It’s a more personal kind of veneration there at SFZC.

DC: More devotional?

Personal.

DC note: I asked him about historical stuff, reading to do
on Japan as background for working on Crooked Cucumber. I'm not a very
fast reader and got to none of this. Sorry.

There was an imperial rescript in 1870 or so that Emperor
Meiji set forth that said all priests should marry. But they didn’t have
to. Darn few lineages have remained celibate.

Thought you might want to post on cuke{dot}com that
Robert Aitken-roshi passed away this morning from complications from
pneumonia.

I was snagged into BPF by him (his word) in the late 70's, and at one
point said, "You know, I have enough teachers, but what I really need is
a grandpa. Would be one for me?" And he said, "I'd be delighted!"

A big tree has fallen in the forest today.

Just copied this off of What's New
for that day which is the day he died. - dc